By Dave Schwab

The Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) Board recently voted unanimously to approve $108 million for the fiscal year 2017 Capital Improvement Program (CIP), welcome news to several Uptown residents who depend on the regional bus and trolley system.

The local residents largely echo a random sampling by the MTS that showed San Diegans are generally pleased with the agency’s work.

MTS operates 95 bus routes and three trolley lines on 53 miles of double-tracked railway. Every weekday more than 300,000 passenger trips are taken on MTS bus and trolley services. MTS set a new record in FY 2015 with 96.7 million riders.

“The MTS CIP is an important road map for planning and funding assets for San Diego’s transit system, and having more than $100 million to allocate in CIP funds is very healthy for an agency our size,” MTS CEO Paul Jablonski told San Diego Uptown News.

“This includes new trolleys and buses, transit facility upgrades, hundreds of bus benches and bus shelters, technology improvements and more,” he said.

“MTS is committed to providing the best rider experience possible, and the CIP helps us achieve this goal,” Jablonski added.

Len Farello of North Park, who has regularly ridden MTS buses for years, said he likes recent service changes.

“I do like the new premium express 215,” Farello said of the Rapid Bus that runs between Downtown and San Diego State University via Park Boulevard and El Cajon Boulevard. “It’s much more convenient and faster, and runs more often than the old 15. It makes getting from Downtown to North Park and beyond easier.”

Another North Park resident, Rob Steppke, rides public transportation daily. He said MTS works well, overall. But he added that some bus schedules, as well as transitions between MTS buses and other regional transportation modes, could be improved.

“A lot of times, the MTS bus schedule doesn’t allow for the time-of-day traffic,” Steppke said, citing as an example the No. 10 bus route, which runs from Old Town Transit Center through Hillcrest to North Park and on to City Heights, largely along University Avenue.

“When I take the 10 any time after 3:30 or 4 p.m., and I’m waiting for it at Park (Boulevard) and University (Avenue), it will seldom be on time, sometimes as much as five or 10 minutes late,” he said. “That schedule doesn’t take into account gridlock traffic coming through Hillcrest.”

Steppke — chair of the North Park Maintenance Assessment District and a trainer for the County of San Diego — said those traffic-generated delays not accounted for in the MTS bus schedules can lead to serious issues for riders taking buses to get to places where they can transfer to other regional transportation modes, like the Metrolink commuter rail to Los Angeles.

“You have to use an Amtrak train to get to Oceanside to take the Metrolink, and you have to take the No. 235 (MTS) bus that leaves Downtown about 4:20 a.m.,” he said. “If that bus is late for any reason — your entire plan of going to LA for the day is shot.”

A total of 2,950 rider surveys were collected by MTS between 5 a.m. and 8 p.m. from March 16 to April 18, 2015.

“Overall satisfaction with services is high with 91 percent of riders saying they are either very satisfied or satisfied with both bus and trolley services provided by SDMTS,” MTS said in a statement. “Satisfaction with service coverage received the highest overall rating with 90 percent of riders awarding at least a satisfied rating. The ease of loading a Compass Card also received high scores from riders with a 90 percent satisfaction rating.”

MTS however indicated 2015 surveys showed “rider satisfaction with service frequency showed the steepest decline with 27 percent of riders indicating that they were not satisfied with how often the buses and trolley run, compared to 10 percent in 2013. Rider dissatisfaction was also 27 percent for the cost of a pass/ticket, compared to 16 percent in the previous study. Riders are also less satisfied with the cleanliness of transit centers with 21 percent saying they are dissatisfied, up from 9 percent in 2013.”

MTS CIP projects receiving the most funding in FY 2017 are: Eight new low-floor trolleys, $31 million; 45 Compressed Natural Gas buses, $23 million; new transit facility (location to be determined), $7.1 million; new Courthouse Trolley Station on C Street between State and Union streets, $5.7 million; and 46 near-zero emission paratransit buses, $4.7 million.

For more information on how you can use public transportation, go to sdmts.com.

— Dave Schwab can be reached at [email protected].